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Home Theater Speaker Systems
A keeper for those on a budget After receiving a new Blu Ray player to replace my old 5 Disc Samsung 5.1 Surround Sound DVD Unit (with included speakers), I purchased a new Insignia ...

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Editorial Review :

STEREOPHILE is devoted to high-end audio and features equipment reports describing how hi-fi components actually sound, regardless of their specifications. Each issue also includes articles on audio and recorded music, interviews with audio engineers and musicians, news on the developments in sound reproduction, and scholarly and entertaining record reviews. Regular departments cover building a collection of classical recordings, manufacturers commenting on the reviews of their products, and a controversial "Letters to the Editor" column.

Customer Review :

inexpensive but subjectivist

This magazine is interesting because of the design aspects. I enjoy seeing what the high-end is doing as far as construction, cases, etc. I am more of a DIY or mid-fi type than high-end. This magazine is as fun as Stereo Review used to be, but take the reviews with a grain of salt.

Rating :

Stereophile Magazine

This is an excellent magazine for product information and education. However, more and more they are letting political agendas creep into their writing which other than that is very well done. If this trend continues, my subscription will expire. There is no place for this in a magazine advertised as a music magazine.

Rating :

not for me

I was an audio production major and I thought this would be a good subscription for my career, but it's really not for that. You have to know some really advanced audio terminology to get anything this magazine offers. It only reviews products that are thousands of dollars. It's for a niche audience. I wouldn't recommend unless your part of that group.

Rating :

This is one great audio magazine

Stereophile has been around as long as any magazine covering audio equipment for those who love music and have discerning ears. It is also some bargain; the semiannual recommended components feature alone is worth the price of admission. One caveat, Stereophile's bread and butter is equipment reviews and prices range from affordable to over the top. So, if you aren't offended by an occasional review of say a $15,000 amplifier, then you will be okay. To balance things out, more affordable equipment is featured too for those of us who don't want to spend too much for great sound. This magazine will help you get the most bang for your buck with your equipment purchases, so what's not to like about that. I enjoy reading it just to keep current with this great hobby. Stereophile has very knowledgable writers of high integrity. And, the editor John Atkinson is the greatest.

Rating :

Stereophile isn't for you

There are some big problems with Stereophile that make it worse than useless unless you already know a lot about audio (so that you can separate the useful parts from the stuff they make up):

- There's a lot of misinformation, bias, opinion and pure fantasy mixed in to the articles. Unless you already know quite a bit about audio, it may be hard to separate the useful information from the rubbish.

The writers and the editors are simply not interested in really getting the facts right and testing what they know against reality - that's hard work and it's inconvenient, after all. And facing reality would get in the way of the real reason this magazine is published, which is ....

- Like most magazines, Stereophile is a vehicle for selling advertising. Though they like to believe otherwise, Stereophile is no different from GQ or Maxim or Elle magazines. (That shouldn't surprise you, even though it might.) Stereophile's main purpose is to help sell you more stuff, just like almost every other magazine.

And, like GQ or Elle, encouraging fashion trends is a key part of Stereophile trying to get you to spend more money. That, for example, is why they are so excited about the return of vinyl. It's not because vinyl actually sounds better (!?). It's because after years of stasis, it's a huge opportunity to sell more advertising to try to sell you more stuff. The fact that they moved all the turntables, etc, to the front of their recommended list of equipment helps prove the point. Fashion trends are a magazine's best friend, whether it's GQ or Stereophile.

By the way, I'm not suggesting that the writers are consciously slanting the articles. In a way, it's far more insidious than that: they actually believe what they write. There's an implicit selection process - the only way to get hired to or stay on the staff at Stereophile is to drink the Kool Aid. Over time the primary goal has become making money, so Stereophile has inevitably been shaped into a vehicle for selling advertising.

So keep in mind that Stereophile isn't published for you, it's published for the advertisers and the owners. That might help guide you through the quagmire that is Stereophile magazine. You're simply the "target" demographic. Hold on to your wallet, and decide what to buy with your ears, not your eyes.

Rating :

More reviews...

1. Plays Stereo SACD, CD, CD, CD-R/RW
2. Current Feedback Circuit with Marantz Original HDAM
3. Cirrus Logic CS4397 DAC with Digital Filter
4. Exclusively Designed Original Mechanism for Audio Playback
5. Zero Impedance Copper Ground Plate for Analog Terminals

Editorial Review :

Marantz proudly presents a triumphant achievement: the remarkable SA8001 Super Audio CD player. By incorporating vast knowledge with the development of the SA-11S1 and SA-15S1 SACD players, Marantz is now able to deliver the depth, dynamics and sonic accuracy at a remarkable new price. Improving on a legendary platform (the SA8260 - five years on Stereophile Magazine's Recommended Components list), the SA8001 will find its way onto every budget minded music lover's wish list.

Customer Review :

Very good and affordable

I wanted to buy the new Esoteric S-60 ($4500) to replace my Cary Audio 303/200 as I thought the Cary was sounding a bit agressive, even with the upsampling feature. Since both the Esoteric and Marantz just came out with Stereophile's "class A" rating, I decided to be an austere and mature individual and save $3500.00 on a machine that I won't be listening that much after all. My schedule does not allow it. My ancillary equiment comprises the following: electrocompaniet ECI 3, PS Audio power cords, Stereovox colibri-X, WBT, HGA Diva and Cardas Hexlink cables. Speakers are Focal Electra 1007be.
Firstly, being an "affordable" player, the Marantz has a high WAF factor, for those in the same situation as I am.
I got the unit yesterday and put the XLO CD with the "burn-in" tracks for about an hour and procedeed to do a little listening. Previously, I was using Oppo's 981 as a SACD player with OK results. As a SACD I was relieved to hear a substantial improvement from the Marantz. I am hoping that as the player breaks in there will be a wider margin of improvements.
My real worry is wether the Marantz will one-up the Cary on redbook CD's, the bulk of my collection. It would be nice to know I will be happy with it's redbook performance. I am hoping to simplify my system by only having one player on the audio rack. At this point I am not prepared to make any judgement on the Marantz's redbook capabilities. It's too early and I haven't listened to it that much. But I can say that so far the redbook playing quality is decent and maybe close enough to the Cary Audio. More listening and break in is needed. I listen mostly to classical orchestral music, but I have the obligatory Diana Krall, Patricia Barber, Coltrane and other audiophile Cd's. Hybrid CD/SACD music sounds exellent mostly because you can play the SACD layer. Furthermore, one great feature of the Marantz is the ability to select which layer to play from your remote! Also, I really like the feature for turning off the display.. The Cary's blue LEDs are something that can annoyingly perforate your retina after sitting in front of it for so long.
Part of me still wants the Esoteric S-60, but so far the Marantz is helping me behave like a responsible citizen/husband. Looking forward to more enjoyable listening sessions.

Rating :

A Reason to Upgrade to SACD

This model has been replaced by the Marantz SA8003 Marantz SA8003 Stereo SACD/CD player.

If you've been wondering whether to move up to SACD, hesitate no longer. Even on my 17-year-old Sony CD player, the Dunedin Consort's award-winning recording of "Messiah" was outstanding, but I couldn't help thinking that it would sound even better in its SACD incarnation. It does, and so do my other discs.

I have a large collection of classical recordings and a good stereo system, but I've never considered myself an audiophile, and spending $900 on a single piece of equipment seemed like a bit of a stretch. But Stereophile's rating of the SA8001 as a recommended "budget component"--a product "under $1,000 or otherwise seen as a great value by the editors"--encouraged me to take the plunge. I wasn't disappointed. Played on the SA8001, my CDs and SACDs have taken on new life. The SA8001 plays two channels, not five, but it nonetheless offers great realism, accuracy, and dynamic range. In this case, at least, the higher priced product does produce a noticeable improvement in the listening experience.

Rating :

Outstanding sound and quality

I've wanted a high quality CD player since CD's came out nearly 25 years ago. I've always spent a lot on speakers and amps as well as receivers and preamps but never much on my CD player. Many years ago I wanted to get the Sony ES 1000 CD player which was about $1000 at that time but I never did. I went with several CD changers and then some CD/DVD player/changers, all well under $500. Most were good (except those old cartridge changers) and provided good audio playback. More recently I got a Sony CD/SACD changer and had a Yamaha changer as well and would listen to CD's via digital input to my preamp or receiver. Here in the past year I've been looking at CD players again as I've been buying a lot more CD's - when I find good deals on them.
I think there are several valid reasons to have a dedicated CD player instead of a typical DVD player to listen to CD's. Most people have their DVD players connected to their system digitally via optical or now HDMI, this basically uses the player as a transport only, sending the digital signal to your receiver or preamp to decode and play. This is fine but depending on what your receiver is, you may not be getting the best your CD has to offer as most modern day receivers are made with a large feature set and cost savings in mind, thus their analog output stages are usually fairly basic and inexpensive.

Most of the higher end CD/SACD players I've looked at were all over the $1000 mark (most well over that) and I was able to get this Marantz SA-8001 at a good price so I gave it a shot. Once I received it I was impressed with the heft and quality of this unit. Most mass produced CD & DVD players are built as cheaply as possible. The Marantz SA8001 breaks that mold. Its a very quality unit with a large power supply, nice large CD tray and buttons elegantly laid out and it also plays SACD's. I now have about 30 SACD's to go along with my over 400 CD's. It only plays SACD in Stereo output which works great for me. Most SACD's were made in 2 channel stereo originally and many multi channel SACD's now also include the 2 channel Stereo SACD as well. On my Sony I have separate outputs for SACD play, with most multi channel SACD's I've heard, the surround sound is nothing more than some echoy background noise and doesn't really add to the recording and having music coming out of the center channel can actually reduce your soundstage as it gets pulled into that center channel speaker. Thus 2 channel SACD provides I think, the best sound. Providing of course your speakers are setup correctly and your in the primary listening spot.
The other thing I like about the SA8001 is that besides its digital coax and optical outputs, it only has one 2-channel analog output, thus CD & SACD's use the same output and you don't need to run separate cables for each. This also gives the benefit of being able to connect to the standard analog input of your receiver or preamp and I definitely recommend using the analog output. You could also add eq to your sound if desired.

Some things I don't like about this unit is the remote control doesn't include a power on/off and the ff/rr feature is not very fast and the sound mutes while doing it. The skip frontwards and backwards works fine however. And one other thing I would like that it doesn't do is when I put in a disc, for it to load and start playing it. With the Marantz you have to load it and then hit play.

For sound, the SA8001 provides excellent imaging and soundstage as well as more clarity and detail in music. With SACD's the difference is even more noticeable than with CD's. It really takes SACD to the next level. Celine Dion SACD sounds superb and I gave a listen to Michael Jacksons Thriller SACD which has some of the best stereo imaging I've heard on any recording.
The other great thing about the SA8001 is in listening to some of my older CD's that I don't think were recorded very well. Bob Seger Greatest Hits 1 is a good example of this. The Marantz upfiltering and enhanced D/A conversion makes this CD sound much better than my old player did. Keep in mind that for some CD's, the sound may not be noticeably different, but for all CD's and SACD's, your going to get the best sound you can without probably spending over $2000.


Rating :

1. Flagship model from well-known up-converting DVD player expert OPPO Digital; Exceptional picture and sound quality.
2. Recognized by many reviewers and videophiles as the ultimate DVD players to get the best possible video quality from standard DVD disc on your HDTV
3. Powered by ABTs Video Reference Series technology (DVDO); Delivers a clearer, smoother, film-like and true-to-life picture that is free of artifacts.
4. DVD-Audio, SACD and DVD-Video universal playback; superior audio with 7.1, 5.1 or 2.0 channel output with Dolby Digital Surround EX decoding
5. Up-conversion to 1080p over HDMI; High resolution photo slide show (HD-JPEG); USB 2.0 interface; RS232 connection; IR In/Out

Editorial Review :

DV-983H is the new flagship model in OPPO's line of award-winning up-converting DVD players. Featuring Anchor Bay's leading video processing technologies, 7.1-channel audio, and 1080p HDMI up-conversion, the DV-983H Universal DVD Player delivers the breath-taking audio and video performance needed to make standard DVDs look their best on today's large screen, high resolution displays. The DV-983H provides a rich array of features for serious home theater enthusiasts. By applying source-adaptive, motion-adaptive, and edge-adaptive techniques, the DV-983H produces an outstanding image for any DVD, whether it's mastered from an original theatrical release film or from a TV series. Aspect ratio conversion and multi-level zooming enable users to take full control of the viewing experience ¿ maintain the original aspect ratio, stretch to full screen, or crop the unsightly black borders. Special stretch modes make it possible to utilize the full resolution of ultra high-end projectors with anamorphic lens. For users with an international taste, the frame rate conversion feature converts PAL movies for NTSC output without any loss of resolution or tearing. Custom home theater installers will find the DV-983H easy to integrate into whole-house control systems, thanks to its RS-232 and IR IN/OUT control ports. To complete the home theatre experience, the DV-983H produces stunning sound quality. Its 7.1 channel audio with Dolby Digital Surround EX decoding offers more depth, spacious ambience, and sound localization. Additionally, the player supports DTS Digital Surround, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro-Logic II to accommodate any sound track found on a DVD. Music lovers will enjoy the precise rendering of CD, Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. The DV-983H incorporates high resolution 192kHz, 24-bit audio D/A converters, isolated power supply circuitry, and quality passive components to deliver clear treble, deep bass, and a broad dynamic range.

Customer Review :

Most bang for buck

I needed to buy (my 1st) DVD player after buying my 1st TV,Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color, 6 months ago. Because I had a very good High Fidelity analog stereo system & a large selection of music that included SACDs, I was interested in a player that had excellent sound output & very good 1080p output, capable of upscaling both DVDs & CDs (my Denon CD player had also just kicked the bucket). I also am a foreign film buff & prefer anamorphic presentations & so I buy DVDs from other regions when a US dvd isn't available or is of poorer quality, so I also wanted a multi-region player. Although most other DVD players were quite a bit cheaper than the 983H, all of the SACD players I had my eye on were considerably more expensive. After reading all the glowing reviews, I concluded that this was the best option & that if I wasn't happy with the output, I could always get an SACD player or try another brand when I upgraded my collection to Blu-Ray. So, I drove to their offices (I live in the bay area) & bought one directly (at the time this model hadn't even been listed on Amazon).

After getting it home, I connected it to my TV via HDMI & directly to my stereo via high end RCAs (the one shortcoming of the Samsung TV is lower quality sound output, so I wanted it direct to my amp from the player). I (and everyone who has visited me) have been quite floored by the quality of both the image of regular DVDs & the sound of CDs & (some) SACDs on this system. I have the output upscaled to the max. possible. My regular CDs sound quite a bit better than my previous Denon CD player and the images of DVDs is quite amazing. At this point, I can't envision Blu-Ray discs/player providing much more detail or richer color than I get on my best dual layered/anamorphic DVDs (ie. Criterions). The sound quality of my Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary Edition is absolutiely stunning. The part where the clock chimes sound startled me out of my chair & was quite lifelike. (This is definitely the best SACD to test the sound quality of SACD). So for the amount of money I spent, I was quite happy to buy a DVD player that fill all my needs & had such stellar quality output.

Over time of using the thing, some of the player's (lack of) features began to irk me, & for that I've deducted a point from what could very easily be a 5 star product. Some of the annoyances include:

-flimsy disk tray (this thing feels like it could be broken easily)
-while the player does a pretty good job of reading all disks, disks that are slightly off or have labels (i.e. library rentals w/ labels on the ring) or Dualdiscs often vibrate really loudly, much louder than any CD/dvd drive/player I've ever had.
-long boot up time (even regular CDs can take close to a minute after closing before they're ready)
-poor buttons on unit itself (sometimes you have to hit the "open" button on the face plate 3 or 4 times before the tray actually opens, which isn't a problem when hitting the open button on the remote)
-ugly & not very useful display (Texas Instrument calculator font in blue, which is too light & poor quality to read unless you are right in front of the unit, the icons displaying disk type & whether you want repeat play are really tiny, you have to have your face right up to the display to see those.)
-ugly onscreen font (we're talking 80s Atari font here) & poor default image (the earth picture is ok, but the Oppo label is ugly). It would really be nice to be able to customize this.
-no way to upscale external audio source too (would be really nice to be able to pass my ipod/computer audio through this player's audio chip), you'd have to burn it to a cd or dvd & play it.
-The unit's maximum possible sound delay of 10 nanoseconds is nowhere near enough to sync the audio & video on a setup like mine (hdmi for tv & analog audio), the sound is very noticably off (even w/ maximum delay) when playing PAL/non Region 1/0 discs.
-despite being able to play PAL/region 2 disks, the player "blinks" (a flash of black) every couple of minutes on some disks despite the fact that the sound isn't interupted. Not sure why this is or whether there's a workaround.
-despite setting the default for DVD-audio & SACDs to stereo or mixing to stereo, many play in surround sound & I have to turn on my TV just to readjust when all I want is to listen to music (having more control over this on the remote would be nice, but maybe it's the disc's manufacturing that prevents this).

If I was more concerned about features over image & sound quality, I'd give this model 3 stars, but because I've been more than happy with the sound & image quality & because buying this dvd player has now made the purchase of a dedicated SACD player obsolete, I'll give it 4.

Rating :

Best standard dvd player-period.

Lets just say if you don't already have one of these-you're out of luck cause Oppo has discontinued production to make way for their upcoming bluray player. I've had one for 8 months now and it's the best[...] I've ever spent-I have a library of over 2000 anime dvds and it makes them look the best they ever will. Oppo's service is second to none-in the 2 times I've had to take advantage of the warranty the service and customer support are exemplairy. Would I buy another Oppo product? Without hesitation!!

Rating :

Awesome, simply AWESOME!

This thing plays everything I've tried (except for Blu-Ray of course). But the picture quality from this thing is simply amazing. By far the best universal player for the cost. All other cheaper players skimp on features.

Rating :

Best Universal DVD Player Period...

Ok, first off please don't listen to people that own 32" tv's and have a $250 Home Theater in a box. This product is not aimed at that level of experience or investment. Upscaling is all about 1)How large your television is 2) If you display is capable of 1080P 3)Viewing distance in comparison to the display.

Bar none this player has the best deinterlacing available on a consumer device. It's scaling is only beat by players with the Reon chip but not by much. Where this player trumps all others is the fact that it plays every format under the sun and does it with ease.

If you have a 42" or under display don't even bother worrying yourself with high end upscaling solutions. If you have a larger display that is capable of 1080P then you will reap the benefits and breath life into your standard dvd collection.

Again, when taking advice about any particular "high end" electronic device consider the source along with their experience.

Rating :

More reviews...